by RP Fischer
I wipe my eyes real quick before I latch onto his biceps to keep my balance.
“Aaron, they’re not tears of pain or sadness. They’re tears for me accepting that you love me for me.” I take a super deep breath and exhale shakily before I speak, “And me wanting to tell you that I love you, too.”
He stills, and I really hope this means something good. How could it not? He just told me he loves, and I told him I love him back. Listening to my mom, his mom, and everyone else only got me so far. I had to listen to my heart and every inch of me, inside and out, wants him.
I had to make the decision myself.
If the look in his eyes is any indication that he might be dreaming, I take the sneaky approach and pinch him.
He comes out of his daze and smirks at me. “Did you just assault a police officer with pinching, young lady?” He tugs on my hand. “Looks like I’m gonna have to take you outside and deal with you properly.”
We walk outside to the side of The Barn where only moonlight glows on the wall and the air holds a slight breeze against the heat radiating from my body. I should be cold. I should be shivering in anticipation, but Aaron has me so nervous, my cheeks will probably be flushed permanently after this.
I really want to nut punch Bryce right now for making me wait so long to finally have Kylie. I know I could’ve fought for her sooner or harder, but out of respect for my best friend, I kept my distance.
Having Kylie flushed against the side of The Barn has been both my dream and my nightmare for years. The dream of having the woman I love right where she belongs and the nightmare creeping through that she will never feel the same way.
Finally, the dream is here.
The face I long to have right next to mine every time I fall asleep and there when I wake up again. Call me sensitive, call me delusional, but never doubt my love for Kylie Mitchell.
The woman looking up at me with the intensity of a love that I never thought could come from either of us.
“Aaron…” she whispers from her rose-colored lips into the soon-to-be fall night.
My hands cup her cheeks, feeling the zing from her skin through every part of me.
“Kylie, there is no coming back from this. I need you to be more sure of this than anything you ever have been in your entire life. From this point on, I’m yours as you’re mine.”
She puts her hands on my shoulders, leaning me toward her until our foreheads are touching. I close my eyes as the feeling of our breaths become one.
Her melodic voice melts into my ears with her speech, “With you, all the best feelings come back. The feelings where we’re surrounded by nothing but love and laughter. Where a smile is a permanent fixture on our faces. Where, for once, we don't question anything and just enjoy ourselves. We have absolutely no cares in the world.” I lean up to open my eyes and watch her. She continues, “All I want is to bottle this feeling for the rest of my life. There are no knots in my stomach, my heart isn't beating itself into an anxious frenzy, and the only tears I have are tears of joy. Accepting my love for you makes me whole again.”
The second she finishes telling me the words that I’ve needed and wanted to hear for years, I crush my mouth to hers. My feelings and hers have rushed into every primal part of me that I’ve kept sheltered with her unless I was protecting her. There is nothing I wouldn’t have done for her from a distance, but now I can be the man I want to be with her. I can touch her and feel the surge of protective power to keep our hearts together.
The two of us fuse into one against the side of the building. Where my breathing ends and hers begins with our lips combined. Grunts of pain and pleasure mix between us as I lift Kylie up against the bricks, wrapping her legs around my waist.
I grind my hips into the warm and wet space between her legs, feeling my erection wanting to fight its way home inside of her. Little moans escape as our tongues explore each other, feeding off the light and love between us. My hands dig into her ass, my fingers slipping into her wetness, which is causing them to drip down her thigh.
Kylie rips her face from mine and gasps for air.
“Aaron, we’re on the side of the building. As much as I’m loving this, someone could walk outside any minute, and I’m not in favor of giving anyone a show.”
I pull her close against me as I smooth out her dress from behind, not ashamed one bit when I grab her ass in the process.
She giggles and smacks my arm to let her go. She doesn’t sever the connection completely when she links our fingers together.
“Come on, caveman. Let’s go back inside. It’s still sort of girls’ night.”
We walk hand in hand with half the eyes of The Barn staring at us.
Our booth has been abandoned, but only because they’re all on the dance floor. I pull Kylie with me near Matt and Charlie. My sister stares at our intertwined hands, a bright smile on her face. I’m glad I have my sister’s approval. She already knew about both of our feelings, but kept her distance for good reason. She had her own past to push through and came out great on the other side with Matt there to be her anchor.
“Yours If You Want It” by Rascal Flatts comes on, and I once again spin my woman around the dance floor. Her cheerleading years and dance classes when she was younger have left her with a lithe and sexy body that moves in sync with mine. I sing to her any chance I get with every moment that I hold her close.
The rest of the night is full of dancing and laughter. With one minor incident where I may have had to do an off-duty arrest, the night shaped out to be one of the best nights I’ve had in a very long time, all thanks to the huge weights lifted off both Kylie’s and my shoulders.
As the night fades, a small battle fights inside of me. A part of me wants to be a gentleman and not take this revelation too far too fast, but the other side of me wants to fully be with Kylie in every way possible.
Being the gentleman I am, I keep my hands to myself. We all separate into our perspective rides for the night. Matt had dropped Charlie off with the girls earlier tonight and picked me up to go play ball before our Barn interruption, so Charlie rides back with him while I catch a ride with Kylie and Bree. The perks of living in the same condo complex as them is that Kylie’s never far away from me physically.
As we get out of Kylie’s older car, Bree practically runs up the stairs and looks back at us with a sly smile on her face before walking inside.
I grab Kylie’s elbow and spin her toward me. Nervousness and lust pour from her. I flatten my hand against her cheek and pull her in for another kiss. This time, I don’t care that we’re in the parking lot, yet for Kylie, I remain chivalrous. I’m trying to be a gentleman, and if I give her a simple kiss in the lot then I just might behave.
She pulls back from me, and I stare at her from head to toe. Her breathing matches my own. She whispers, “Am I dreaming, Aaron?”
I stroke along her cheek, hoping she feels the contact is real. “This is all real, Kylie. From this day on, we are together. I promise not to push you farther than you’re ready to go, but know that I will be here.”
I steal one more kiss from her before I spin her around toward the stairs to her door. As I watch her walk away, the future is clear for once in my mind. Someday she will always come home to me and I to her.
There is so much that sucks about being an adult. The main part is work schedules. I got switched back to days, but they can go past the twelve-hour length if we’re in the middle of a difficult pregnancy.
Anything can happen and if I have to stay an extra few hours to help, I don’t care one bit, but I do have a limit. I just remind myself the life of these babies are just as important to me as anyone else in my life these days.
Aaron’s on different shifts now, so I’ve barely seen him. Stolen kisses over the last few weeks since the night at The Barn have not sufficed. He’s brought me treats when he can, but no alone time has been granted to either of us. If I’m not at work, I’m helping Charlie finalize stuff for the wedding. T
he rehearsal dinner is this weekend and then the ceremony on Sunday. Matt’s family and friends from Chicago are coming in this weekend, and it’s crunch time. His sister, Amy, and his mom are coming with the rest of us before the rehearsal dinner for a spa day.
After several difficult deliveries, including twins born two months early, and even one stillborn, I’m completely drained. It took me a long time, but I finally fell asleep. Sadly, it didn’t stop the nightmare of the look on the parents’ face when the doctor announced their newborn’s time of death.
After what feels like only thirty minutes of sleep, the blaring of my alarm and Bree’s blender have gotten me up quicker than I’d like. The notification light from my phone flashes in the corner of my eye, and I dread to see how many texts and missed calls I have.
There are at least twenty texts in my group text with Bree and Charlie. The most recent ones are Bree telling her she heard my alarm go off.
I scream through my door, “I’M UUUUPPP! Breeee, can you make me a smoothie pretty please while I shower?”
I also reply to Charlie that we will be at her mom’s house in no less than forty-five minutes. I quickly shower and walk out to the craziness that is our apartment. Bree is literally running around the whole apartment like a chicken with her head cut off. We already brought our necessities to the Hanstons’ the other day, so why she’s acting like she forgot something is comical at best. She’s one of the most prepared people in the world.
I can’t help but mess with her as I grab our smoothies from the kitchen and go hunt down my purse. “Breeeee! To what do I owe the crazy-tude to right now?”
She’s still pacing, her blonde hair whipping in all directions. “Nothing. I’m just running behind, and I keep thinking we’re gonna forget all of Charlie’s blue, old, borrowed, and new stuff.”
I feed Waffles while still talking to her. “Bree, we have everything already. All you need is your purse and some shooooees. If we stay calm, no one will turn into Godzilla.”
“You just love seeing me all flustered don’t you, Miss Kylie?”
I go to grab my own flip flops and do my best to keep her annoyed. “You betcha, girlie, now let’s go.”
On the drive to the Hanstons’ house, Bree’s agitation increases.
I glance at her in the passenger seat.
“Seriously, Bree. What’s wrong? This can’t be wedding jitters because it’s not your wedding. Unless you think you’re gonna trip or somethin’.”
She looks back at me then at the road before she fumbles with her phone that keeps blowing up.
“Leo got here last night.”
“Matt’s other groomsmen?” Aaahhh. So that’s who was missing! I noticed that one of Matt’s groomsmen was totally absent, but since I’ve only met Leo a handful of times, I didn’t think to place that he wasn’t there. Plus, I had tunnel vision for Aaron. He looked so handsome in his suit, I just wanted to grab the tie around his neck and pull him toward me until we started undressing...
“Yeah, his flight on Thursday night was canceled and nothing was leaving Friday, so he drove all the way down here once the weather in Chicago cleared a little bit. He got here like an hour after the rehearsal dinner ended so Matt just told him to get some sleep. He said he was looking forward to seeing me.”
“Then what’s the big deal?”
She takes a deep breath. “I feel about him the way you feel about Aaron and how Charlie feels about Matt, but he lives in Chicago. My life is here, and his is there. He has his whole firefighting stuff going on up there, so I told him I didn’t want a long-distance relationship. We’ve been cordial because of Matt and Charlie, but every time he texts me, my heart races to steal any piece of him I can get.”
I put my hand on hers while we pull into the Hanstons’ driveway. “Bree, I’m the world’s worst person to be giving you love advice since I recently got my own head out of my ass, but I will give you sort of the same advice I gave Charlie when she first met Matt.” I make sure she’s looking me dead in the eye. “Brianna Lynn, keep your mind open in what happiness Leo can give you. Don’t go into seeing him as the worst thing that could happen. Give him a fair chance.”
She starts giggling and gives me the same response Charlie gave me a couple years ago. “When did you become so sage and wise, Miss Mitchell?”
This time, I can give her the answer I gave myself. “Because I opened myself up to accepting the love that Aaron wanted to give and that I wanted to share with him.”
Her eyes are watery, and I smack the hand I’m holding. “Stop that crap right now. No tears until the ceremony, dorkbutt.”
She laughs, “You’re the one getting all sentimental here.”
We both get out of the car and walk into the insanity that is the Hanston household. We get ready without much fanfare because Charlie is simplistic in that way. All of our dresses came out beautifully on all of us, especially Charlie’s.
My best friend is radiant.
She kept her long dark chocolate brown hair curled down her back with pieces from the front braided to meet at the crown of her head where her veil will go. She claimed it’s ‘cuz Matt will run his fingers through it all night, and she didn’t want to deal with a million pins in his way. Her makeup only enhances her brownie-colored eyes and sun-kissed skin that will definitely make her man cry. He always talks about how her eyes are his favorite part about her.
I, on the other hand, had an amazing up-do done for my bobbed hair to showcase the maid of honor necklace my soul sister gave me as a gift. My makeup smolders around my ice-blue eyes against the navy colored strapless dress with organza overlay. With me being so short, I opted to wear navy pumps to give me a little extra height. There’s no way in hell I’ll make it through the night without blisters, but for my bestie, I’ll take the pain.
The ceremony is being held at the community center amphitheater where I witnessed Charlie and Matt’s first meeting. She was so scared and timid against his overpowering Chicago attitude that she held off on their first date for nearly a month. Now, she walks down the aisle to her hot man with a confidence I haven’t seen her in years. If it weren’t for her family and my parents’, I don’t know how I would’ve ever gotten back from Bryce’s death. I owe so much to the Hanstons’ that I take a glimpse at the one who holds my heart.
In all things good and sexy in this world, Aaron can fill out a suit. The crisp navy suit with the stark white shirt is draped beautifully against his frame. The yellow tie is as bright as the light in his eyes toward his sister and then me.
As Charlie walks down the aisle, I catch the faces of everyone here today. Bree is nervous to be in the same breathing space as Leo, who is doing a poor job of not looking at her. They both avert their eyes to Matt whose eyes are tearing up as Mr. Hanston walks his daughter toward her future. I watch my parents’ and Mrs. Hanston dab their eyes from fresh tears and then back to Matt’s former roommate, Jeremy, as he tries to nudge Matt.
Finally, my eyes land on my other half. The man I have yet to fully give myself to, but know that I will never give up on. He’s already mouthed I look beautiful and breathtaking at least half a dozen times. This time when I look over, he mouths, “I love you.”
The water works begin and don’t stop for the next hour as the judge officiates and my soul sister pledges her love to a man I deem worthy of her.
When Charlie was first planning the wedding, she wasn’t kidding with the fact that they invited at least 150 people. A rough guesstimate in my brain shows about 100 are actually here. A lot of extended family have come from all over the country, especially Matt’s family and friends from Chicago.
Instead of having rows of seats for the ceremony and then a separate room for the reception, everyone actually sits at their assigned tables for both, especially since the weather held out perfectly today. Neither Charlie nor Matt wanted some fancy cocktail hour so while we’re taking a million pictures, everyone starts milling around to the open bar and heading over to the hors�
� doeurves table. I’m envious of everyone who gets to start eating, but my mind gets distracted by the suit-covered arms that wrap themselves around me from behind.
I seriously want these pictures to end, but Charlie makes sure that Aaron and I get our own pictures with her and also with just each other.
A part of me can’t wait for the day that we take our own engagement and wedding pictures, yet another part of me doesn’t want to jump the gun. We still haven’t even had sex!
I snuggle into his embrace and squirm a little, just to see his reaction.
He kisses under my ear, sending shivers through me, and whispers, “Babe, if you keep squirming like that, I’m liable to take you into one of the offices and show you what you’re doing to me.”
I turn to look at him, trying not to crush my bridesmaid’s bouquet in the process. My smile is coy yet mischievous.
“Then maybe you should feed me so I’m not so ravenous anymore. Do you think they’d notice if we left anyway?”
“Only our parents’ would notice. No one else knows who we are. But you’re right, I should feed you first so you have the energy to keep up with my dancing.”
He grabs my hand and leads me away from everyone toward some of the food. I nearly get mauled by all the people who want to stop us and visit, but we have a mission for food to avoid ending up in our birthday suits. This may be a private event, but there are still plenty of people to make it feel like a public place.
Only Aaron could get me to throw caution to the wind now.
Kylie looks drop dead gorgeous, and I have to fight every inch of me that wants to say fuck this reception and let me have my woman. Watching her walk down the aisle with the little sway in her hips, strutting in her high heels and neck exposed is a lot more than any hot-blooded man can take.
I try to keep my thoughts to remind myself that there are kids present and a lot of people who probably don’t want to see me get a hard-on at any time tonight.
That dress, though.